The latest toy haulers have one thing in common: a rear garage or platform for transporting recreational toys or other large gear. Here’s a preview:

A luxury model in the popular HQ19 toy-hauler line, the HQ22T features a longer and wider rear garage at 13 feet by 7 feet. “It is designed so that larger ATVs can be parked inside,” said Richard Barrios, a marketing representative for Black Series.

With sleeping room for six people, the 28-foot HQ22T features a queen-size bed in the master bedroom and four bunks in the rear garage area that fold up against the walls. Other amenities include a refrigerator, microwave, wet bath, marine-grade speakers and an exterior kitchen.

A hot-dipped galvanized frame, independent suspension and 16-inch wheels/tires ensure the toy hauler can leave the beaten path. “They are not made to just sit at an RV park,” Barrios said. “They are designed to go out in the middle of nowhere.”

With a UVW of 6,504 pounds and a base MSRP of $85,999, the HQ22T is equipped with two 150-watt solar panels when not plugged into traditional power pedestals.

Luxury fifth-wheel toy haulers are growing in popularity with manufacturers designing in more features and bigger garages. Dutchmen’s Voltage 4195 delivers on all of the above, according to Josh Bowerman, district sales manager for Voltage.

Stepping into the den-style living room of the 45-foot, 2-inch, triple-axle fifth-wheel makes it clear that the designers had luxury and daily family use in mind. Gone is the single row of theater seats cramped into a slideout. Instead, two banks of reclining Thomas Payne seats are situated in opposing slides with a third bank perpendicular to the other two, making for a more usable and inviting space, adjacent to the U-shaped galley.

Of particular note is the new Stack ’N’ Pack 13-foot garage with a half-bath, designed to accommodate a side-by-side vehicle by folding the bath walls against the side wall of the trailer. The 4195 also features the Polar Breeze air-conditioning system, allowing up to three units to be run on a 50-amp service. An LP-gas-powered 5.5-kilowatt genset and 50-gallon fuel station complete the package.

Full-body-paint options continue to move the needle in the fifth-wheel segment, and the new black, gray and white Shadow paint scheme is certain to garner attention. Base MSRP is about $112,000, and the GVWR is 20,000 pounds.

When XLR introduced its Nitro XLR405 front-living-room floorplan, brand manager Brent Stevens understood that not everyone would be able to afford the big fifth-wheel, so the division devised a similar layout in its triple-slide XLR Hyperlite 3310.

“This is a popular layout in a traditional travel trailer, so we modified it and put it in a toy hauler,” said Sales Manager Rob McCartney. “It’s a mid-bedroom design with opposing slides — in fact, there are three slides in this unit,” something McCartney said he has never seen in a toy-hauling travel trailer.

“The layout includes a big wraparound front kitchen and, out back, a 10-foot garage with its VIP porch patio,” McCartney said. The 37-foot HD3310, which retails for about $51,000, also includes a central-vacuum system. “That’s something that’s always been reserved for fifth-wheels,” he added.

Among a host of new XLR models, the Nitro XLF405 43-foot fifth-wheel melds a front-kitchen layout with a full 11-foot garage. The bath-and-a-half floorplan places the living room and kitchen on one floor, “which provides two huge pass-through storage compartments below,” said XLR General Manager Brent Stevens.

With a starting price of $89,000, the XLF405 includes a front windshield, a slate fireplace and backsplash, a central vacuum “and more countertop space than any high-end fifth-wheel,” explained Stevens. The XLF405 features an entertainment center, triple power awnings, a six-point leveling system, and opposing slideouts in the master bedroom to really open things up. XLR also eliminated carpet in all of its 2020 Nitro and Hyperlite lines.

It’s safe to say that the No Boundaries brand has made an impact on the “adventure camper” market since its introduction two years ago. It’s also safe to say that the division continues to push the envelope with the introduction of the 19.1, the first toy hauler in the NoBo line, and its first dual-axle trailer.

“The 19.1 is just 24 feet, 11 inches, weighs in at under 5,000 pounds towing weight and still is capable of accommodating a RZR 1000 side-by-side, which at this point is unheard of in the marketplace,” said Cody Schade, national product sales manager.

The 19.1 has a garage that’s 102 inches long and 7 feet wide, and includes “things that you’d see in a higher-end toy hauler like steel inner fenders, multipurpose flooring and 1,000-pound D rings that are attached right to the frame,” Schade said. Like a bigger toy hauler, it also allows the ramp to be set up as a patio, and like all No Boundaries products, it features aluminum-cage construction and Azdel substrate side walls. Additional features include a cold-weather package that boasts a fully enclosed underbelly and roof-mounted Rhino-Rack.

The 20-foot Geo Pro G19TH is designed to be towed by larger SUVs or smaller trucks, according to Zach Rininger, Rockwood’s regional sales manager. With a dry weight of 3,407 pounds, the G19TH has a 1,600-pound carrying capacity in the cargo area. “It really is designed to get up into the mountains or other places where maybe a traditional toy hauler can’t reach,” Rininger explained.

Featuring an air-ride suspension, the rear end of the G19TH can actually dip down slightly to assist in getting a motorcycle or ATV over the back lip and into the garage. A 100-watt solar panel on the roof is standard, Rininger said, adding that it will recharge the battery enough to power everything in the toy hauler except the microwave and air conditioner.

Inside, the G19TH can sleep up to four people, with two sofa beds in the garage area that fold up when not in use. There is also an entertainment center and refrigerator in the garage. The kitchen features overhead shelving and cabinetry, a sink and a stovetop cooking surface. Base MSRP is $24,457.

“The 351 is a dual-axle, 43-foot bath-and-a-half floorplan with a king-bed slide,” said Vengeance Sales Manager Brad Short of the 17,035-pound-GVWR fifth-wheel that’s expected to retail for about $85,000. “We’ve created a traditional fifth-wheel bedroom that you would not typically see in a toy hauler, along with the elegance you’d expect to see in a traditional high-profile fifth-wheel.”

That elegance includes an island kitchen on the lower level, featuring a farmhouse sink, oversize microwave and a 14-cubic-foot Furrion residential refrigerator with a black-glass front.

More upgrades are found in back, with an epoxy material adhered to the floor of the 13-foot garage. “It is chemical-resistant, easy to clean and has a look unmatched by anyone,” Short said. The garage also offers a half-bath and a manual bed system that can be set up in less than a minute without electricity.

Genesis Supreme builds only toy haulers. Its new Overnighter travel trailers are a unique combination of a large open-cargo toy-hauling ramp behind a smallish cabin with basic amenities. Cargo lengths are 14½ feet to 18 feet.

The concept is to load a vehicle up the ramp and quickly get away for the weekend. Any size side-by-side vehicle will fit on the platform. When the vehicle is off-loaded, the outdoor furniture comes out and a large shade structure is popped-up over the platform to make a roomy patio.

Available in five 31½-foot floorplans, the Overnighter is equipped with a 50-gallon freshwater tank, 30- and 20-gallon gray and black holding tanks, respectively, as well as a bathroom, bedroom and kitchen.

“I’m always listening to the customers,” explained CEO Pablo Carmona. “They give me feedback, and I listen. The feedback on the Overnighter has been tremendous.” Retail prices are in the $21,000 to $22,000 range, and GVWR is 8,200 pounds.

While the toy-hauler market continues to grow, there’s no denying that carrying a garage around with an RV means the living quarters will be impacted. Like most toy-hauler manufacturers, Grand Design mitigates this compromise quite easily, but with the new Momentum 29GO, the company didn’t have to. Instead, the 29GO is essentially a well-equipped travel trailer with a permanent “open cargo” ramp out back.

“It’s an attached open garage,” said Momentum General Manager Nate Goldenberg. “It’s kind of tailored to hunters, tailgaters or maybe a wife who doesn’t want a smelly side-by-side near the living room.”

Like other Grand Design toy haulers, the 29GO has a ramp that is designed to transform into a patio, but it takes that social aspect one step further: the exterior rear wall opens to reveal a fully equipped outside kitchen and flat-screen TV, along with an access door to the interior. Inside, the 34-foot, 11-inch 29GO is capable of sleeping six and features an LED TV, electric fireplace and 100-gallon freshwater capacity.

“It’s actually pretty mainstream as far as the consumer we’re targeting, but it’s still something totally outside the box and new for them,” Goldenberg said of the 29GO, which has a 12,000-pound GVWR and retails for about $43,000.

Consumers could easily gravitate to the Cyclone 4214 for its comfortable front-lounge floorplan, but the real selling point of the 44-foot fifth-wheel is its unique patent-pending “hidden garage.”

“A lot of our competitors are building front-living-room floorplans with a garage beneath the rear bedroom,” said A.J. Jones, Heartland’s director of sales. “However, they are usually limited to about 60 inches of width and have restricted height. We went about it differently. Instead of dropping the frame, we developed a new technology with our patent-pending telescoping hidden garage. There’s a full 14-foot garage back there that will fit all toys including side-by-side RZRs — without compromising the bedroom.”

According to Jones, the switch-actuated mechanism is used to raise the entire floor of the bedroom, providing 74 inches of headroom for the garage. Even with the bedroom in the “down” position, there’s a 6-by-8-foot space behind it.

“Certain other under-bedroom garage models also don’t have party decks because they don’t use a full-size ramp,” Jones added. “We have a true 8-by-8-foot garage door on the back that provides the longer approach angle needed, plus it transforms into a patio deck.”

The concept, explained Jones, was more than a year in development. And, while it may find its way onto other models, for now it’s exclusive to the 4214, which retails for about $100,000 and has a 20,000-pound GVWR.

According to Heartland’s A.J. Jones, there was a real need in the market for a toy-hauler line at lower price points. The new Lithium 3116 fits the bill with a base price of less than $30,000

“It was really important for us to come out with a new toy hauler that was at a price point where most of the competition was at, but we didn’t want to take away from a lot of the feature comforts and everything else that most toy hauler consumers have come to expect from a Heartland product,” Jones said. “We knew it needed to be a wide-body construction, it had to have a taller, bigger ramp door and had to be able to haul all the side-by-sides.”

The Lithium stick-and-tin lineup currently offers four front-bedroom floorplans, from 28 to 38 feet. The 3116 is 36 feet, with a 17-foot garage, and features a single streetside slideout that houses a sofa and galley. Boasting 102-inch wide-body construction, the 3116 has a 12,000-pound GVWR.

“Hoooroo is Australian slang for ‘see you later,” said Brad Stoll, president of Hoooroo Overland Camping Trailers, “while our brand names — Boomer and Joey — are related to kangaroos. We’re just trying to carry through with our intent, to create something that’s ‘off the path.’”

Of the two models, the 16-foot Boomer might be characterized as a “toy hauler meets adventure camper.” Outfitted with Dexter Torflex axles, it has a rooftop tent with a king bed, and a dedicated 12-foot toy-hauling area with a rubber floor, aluminum ramp and E-track tie-down system. The pullout kitchen provides a sink and stove, and a side ramp doubles as a table. An on-demand water heater, 42-gallon freshwater tank and awning come standard.

The triple-axle Seismic 4013 is a “luxury fifth-wheel that just happens to have
a garage,” according to Mike Aplin, director of product development for the North Point, Pinnacle and Seismic brands. What allows Aplin to make that claim, he explained, is the 4013’s patent-pending floorplan featuring a step-up kitchen, which in turn leads to a step-up master suite.

“There are other manufacturers that have similar floorplans, but with our patent protection, they cannot do the step-up kitchen — or what we refer to as the ‘split-level home,’ which gets you a double pass-through basement storage,” Aplin said.

The U-shaped kitchen deserves further mention, as the elevated level means not only a commanding view of the lower living area, with its theater seating opposite the entertainment center and freestanding table and chairs, but the upper cabinets are easily within reach of most RVers.

The 45-foot, 8-inch 4013 has a $113,043 base MSRP, a UVW of 15,869 pounds and a claimed 4,826-pound CCC. Like many of Jayco’s other lines, the Seismic is available in the contemporary Modern Farmhouse decor or more traditional Cashmere Cottage.

Making changes to a popular floorplan is not without its challenges. You run the risk of alienating some customers while attracting others. That’s why the big changes for the Fuzion 373 are found below deck, according Max Villa, district sales manager.

“We’ve developed the first full-production independent suspension,” said Villa. “It’s an automotive-grade suspension — on a toy hauler.” According to Villa, the rubberized modified A-arm suspension makes it easier to tow and creates less wear-and-tear on components. Developed in conjunction with MORryde, the system was tested at Navistar’s proving grounds and yielded a 35 percent better shock-absorption rate, Villa said.

Of course, there’s a lot that’s new upstairs in the 39-foot fifth-wheel, as well. “We were able to put in a larger east-west bedroom arrangement in front of the unit without sacrificing garage space,” said Villa. “That gives us a wardrobe closet, washer-dryer prep up in the bedroom, more walkaround space and a dual-entry bathroom.”

With a 19,000-pound GVWR, the 373 will retail for about $95,000. The new suspension — which ultimately will be available across the Fuzion lineup — adds $1,995 to the sticker price.

With a 13-foot garage compartment, the 24-foot Rush 24FB was designed to handle larger ATVs, according to Johnny Yoder, part owner of the company. But with a dry weight of 4,280 pounds, it doesn’t require a larger truck to tow it.

Instead of offering a separate bedroom, the 24FB has a queen-size bed that folds down from the side of the garage. The dinette also transforms into sleeping quarters once the table is removed. The kitchen features a double-basin sink, microwave, oven and stove, and a gas/electric refrigerator. The bathroom includes a toilet and walk-in shower.

Yoder highlighted a large exterior storage space up front. “We made sure to include a ton of space for storage in this unit,” explained Yoder. Base MSRP is $27,000.

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For information on new and used towable RVs, including specs, floorplans and photos, visit Trailer Life’s online RV Buyers’ Guide at rvbg.trailerlife.com. The online search tool has model-year-specific details on RVs going back to 2003. Searches can be done by length, price and manufacturer, as well as model year.

1 COMMENT

We are in the shopping zone for toy haulers. While I’m excited to see new TH 5W models, I sure wish more of them had the side deck. Going to bike rallies and RV rallies will be our thing, and having that side deck makes all the difference.

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